DR1 Daily News - Monday, 4 June 2018

Nation mourns merengue legend Joseito Mateo
Miguel Vargas heads to UN for Security Council vote
Fadul back at Ministry of Interior & Police
Ministry of Environment cracks down on illicit charcoal operations
New OMSA route to the Centro de los Heroes
Infotep announces gastronomy course
Deputies and mayors violate wealth statement law
Who will transmit the MLB games?
Woman to justice for RD$1 billion for RD$1 billion in tax evasion
Taiwan to lend US$150 million to Haiti
DR ranked 86th of 156 countries in Happiness Report
Waking to a big shake on Sunday, 3 June 2018

Nation mourns merengue legend Joseito Mateo
Over the Corpus Christi long weekend, Dominicans listened to his merengues and honored one of the greatest Dominican singers of all times, Joseíto Mateo ((José Tamárez Mateo). President Danilo Medina declared Sunday, 3 June 2018, a day to mourn the merengue singer who died at the age of 99 on Friday, 1 June. He had been diagnosed with leukemia in November 2017. The nation’s flags flew at half-mast in his honor. He was buried to the tune of merengue, with dancing at the funeral home and after, as was his wish.

National Congress had declared Joseito Mateo “king of merengue” and a living legend of merengue in 2014. Among his most legendary songs, is “El negrito del batey”, composed by Héctor Díaz and Medardo Guzmán.

He began his career in the 1930s signing at birthdays and community events. He worked with the Sonora Matancera in CMQ in Cuba.

In 2004, he was honored with the El Soberano award, the highest award in show business. In his prolific career, he even composed a song where he told his fans that when he died to celebrate him dancing or drinking.

Miguel Vargas heads to UN for Security Council vote
Foreign Relations Minister Miguel Vargas traveled to the United States for meetings at the Organization of American States and the United Nations.

On 4 and 5 June 2018, he will participate in the 48th assembly of the OAS.

Afterwards, he will travel to New York to participate in the election of the non permanent members of the United Nations that will take place on 8 June 2018. The Dominican Republic is seeking to be elected to a two-year term on the Security Council. http://www.mirex.gob.do/medios/notic...e-la-oea-y-onu

Fadul back at Ministry of Interior & Police
President Danilo Medina announced that his Labor Minister José Ramón Fadul would return to the Ministry of Interior & Police where he will replace Carlos Amarante Baret, who had announced on 28 May 2018 he was resigning to dedicate himself to seek the PLD presidential candidate in the 2020 general election. Amarante Baret had replaced Fadul. The appointments are in Decree 215-18.

Winston Antonio Santos Ureña was promoted to Minister of Labor. Previously, since 2012 at the start of the Medina administration, he was named deputy minister for Social Security and Labor Risks at the Ministry of Labor.

Diario Libre reports that Ureña is a leading PLD politician. He was elected to the central committee of the PLD as the second most voted in the No 1 district of the province of Santo Domingo during the VIII Comandante Norge Botello Congress of the party.

Ministry of Environment cracks down on illicit charcoal operations
The Ministry of Environment reported seizing 2,897 bags of charcoal and the destruction of 86 ovens for charcoal production with a capacity of producing 3,000 100lb-sacks of charcoal. The raids and seizures occurred in the border region between the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Haiti is a major charcoal exporter, and almost all of the charcoal is illicitly produced in the Dominican Republic.

The Ministry reported that “Operación Chispa” (Operation Spark) was carried out with 256 interventions nationwide to send a clear signal that the government is going to combat the damaging practice.

New Minister of Environment Angel Estevez says the most active points in charcoal production and transport are the provinces of Barahona, Bahoruco, Elías Piña, Dajabón, Pedernales and Independencia on the border with Haiti.

The operation was coordinated by technicians of the Ministry of Environment, working with park rangers, the National Service for Environmental Protection (SENPA), the Dominican Army, Armada, Air Force, National Police, Specialized Corps for Ground Border Security (Cesfront), Ciudad Tranquila (Ciutran) and the Specialized Corps for Touristic Security (Cestur).

New OMSA route to the Centro de los Heroes
New bus units operated by the government Metropolitan Bus Service Office (OMSA) units are now driven by women, the OMSA announced. Omsa is completing the training of the new drivers.

The route from Mama Tingó metro station in Villa Mella in northern Santo Domingo to the Centro de los Héroes (La Feria) in southern Santo Domingo is named the Corredor Máximo Gómez The bus route operates from 6am to 10pm and the fare is RD$15.

The director of Omsa, Héctor Mojica is suggesting the route be renamed Women’s Corridor. On board are 16 drivers and 16 cashiers, both women.

Mojica upon making the announcement of the start of the route said:
“We start these operations convinced that the users of this route will receive a quality service, with the warmth that characterizes Dominican women.”

Infotep announces gastronomy course
The National Institute for Professional Technical Training (Infotep) and the Fundación Sabores Dominicanos announced the Infotep course on Dominican gastronomy. The Primer Diplomado en Gastronomía Dominicana will now be open to the hundreds of thousands of Dominicans that take the short technical courses offered by the government center.

Rafael Ovalles, director of Infotep, said that to prepare the course, hundreds of food specialists, including chefs and tourism experts, government experts and universities were consulted. The effort has the support of the Confederación Panamericana de Escuelas de Hotelería, Gastronomía y Turismo (Conpeht).
The effort also has the backing of two Michelin star chef Maria Marte.

The course is part of efforts to improve gastronomy training of Dominicans and is parallel to the opening of the new Escuela de Hotelería, Gastronomía y Pastelería, the gastronomy school of Infotep, located in Higuey, 20 minutes from Punta Cana.

Deputies and mayors violate wealth statement law
The Laboratorio Social P. José Antonio Esquivel of the PUCMM university has issued a new report as it follows up with the fulfillment of the government officer obligation to file wealth statements prior and after leaving government. The conclusion is that most of the deputies have not met the obligations of the same law that they passed that requires these to make the statements.

The research center’s most recent report says that there have been no consequences for their violation of the law. The 6th report of the research center covering November 2017- April 2018 says that 69 deputies or former deputies had not complied with the law, according to an audit from the Chamber of Accounts. This includes 21 deputies who were elected for the 2016-2020 term.

The numbers are higher for elected municipal officers. Of 3,601 government officers that the Chamber of Accounts says have not presented their due statements, 1,839 are mayors or their substitutes and another 1,689 are in municipal boards.

The law also establishes that the National Treasury should not pay wages of those that have not complied with the law. The report indicates that the National Treasury has not retained the wages because they have not been duly notified by the Chamber of Accounts.

Who will transmit the MLB games?
Major League Baseball transmissions suspended due to legal conflict
The row between Altice, CDN and Telemicro (Channel 5) has resulted in a judge ordering the temporary suspension of the transmission of MLB games in the Dominican Republic. The decision was made by the Civil and Commercial Chamber of the First Instance Court of the National District on 30 May 2018, as reported in Listin Diario.

In late March, the MLB and Altice Dominicana announced an agreement for the transmission of the games. But Telemicro says they have the rights, leading to the impasse.

Woman to justice for RD$1 billion for RD$1 billion in tax evasion
Judge Alejandro Vargas ordered pretrial custody for Estrella Barriola Varela, general manager of the Don Metal SRL company. She is accused of issuing fake invoices for illicit tax deductions. She was sent to justice by the Tax Agency (DGII). Don Metal had a structure for tax evasion resulting in estimated losses of more than RD$1 billion.

Taiwan to lend US$150 million to Haiti
After the announcement of the Dominican Republic severing relations with Taiwan to sign on with the People’s Republic of China, the President of Haiti visited Taiwan. Taiwan media report he is returning with promises for US$150 million for infrastructure projects. The funds are expected to be used to develop rural power grids in the impoverished Caribbean nation, Taipei says.

Haiti is now one of just 18 countries that maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan.

DR ranked 86th of 156 countries in Happiness Report
The Dominican Republic ranks 86th of 156 countries participating in the Sustainable Development Solutions Network of the United Nations’ “2018 Happiness Report.” The report was released in March 2018 but only now is being reported on in the local media.

The UN conducts the landmark survey annually and ranks 156 countries throughout the world on the happiness levels of their people.
The DR ranked below Trinidad & Tobago (38th), Belize (49th), and
Jamaica (56th) in the Caribbean.

The overall rankings of country happiness are based on the pooled results from Gallup World Poll surveys from 2015-2017.

According to the report, Finland people are the happiness. The US ranked 18th on the happiness scale.

The survey is based on six key factors that the organization understands support the well being of people everywhere. These factors include the income of a country’s citizens and how much freedom do citizens have in making life decisions. Also considered in the index is the trustworthiness in the country’s government, or in other words, how officials measure up in the area of corruption. Likewise, how much social support is available to citizens. The citizens’ health and life expectancies are also considered.

Waking to a big shake on Sunday, 3 June 2018
A 5.1 magnitude earthquake, as reported by the GSPS, and 4.9 as reported by the local earthquake service, woke many up on Sunday, 3 June 2018 at 5:14am. The epicenter of the shake was in central eastern province of Monte Plata, near Gonzalo, on the border with the Los Haitises National Park.

The Center for Emergency Operations (COE) reports that no damage has been reported nationwide, despite the brusque shake that was also felt clearly in Greater Santo Domingo and Las Terrenas, Samana.

The National Center for Seismology reported that the earthquake had a magnitude of 4.9 and was registered at 11.4 kilometers to the east of Sabana Grande Boyá in Monte Plata province. The local experts say there have not been replicas.